How to Root and install TWRP recovery on OnePlus 3

Root and install TWRP recovery on OnePlus 3 with this simple and step by step guide. If you are bored by using the same user interface or settings and want to experience something more on your OnePlus 3 then rooting is the first step which open all the doors for always trying something new. With Root, you can not only gain all the control but actually can rule over your phones entire system. Yeah obviously rooting also has some drawbacks, but hey what is life without taking any risks! Since rooting is considered as an unofficial process which is obviously not supported by the OnePlus, it directly ends up in loosing your phones warranty. But don’t worry as there are still many ways to unroot your phone and gain the device warranty back.

Many users don’t like certain pre-installed apps that come along with the phone. The main reason is that they consume most of the space unnecessarily. Also there is no way that they can be uninstalled which makes it more irritating. But no need to worry because once you gain the root access all those pre-installed apps or what we call as bloatware can be easily flushed away from the system. Along with root we are also going to see the steps for flashing the TWRP custom recovery on your OnePlus 3.

Installing a custom recovery gives you many benefits to perform various operations on your device. This includes flashing third party custom ROMs, custom kernels, wiping data or caches, backup or restore of entire system (nandroid backups), increasing internal memory and much more. Whenever you buy a new brand smartphone, it comes with in build stock recovery. This stock recovery can perform only a few system related tasks like flashing OTA updates, wiping data and caches and a few more. But due to the extra functionality, most users always prefer custom recovery over the stock one.

As you must be familiar with the top two recoveries Clockworkmod (CWM) and Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) which are the most famous due to their full featured functionalities. If compared, although CWM is the most preferred one, still TWRP now is gaining more popularity with the moving time. Without further ado, lets move to the actual article on how to root and install TWRP custom recovery on OnePlus 3 smartphone.

Disclaimer:

Try this process at your own risk. We at droidthunder.com won’t be held liable for any damage happened to your OnePlus 3 by following this guide. Although the chances that your device will get damaged are least still I highly recommend you to perform all the steps as they are mentioned below without implementing anything by your own.

Compatibility:

This rooting and TWRP recovery flashing process is only for OnePlus 3. Don’t even think of trying this on any other device or variant as it may lead to severe damage or even bricked device.

Pre-Requisites:

This procedure will void your device warranty. But if you want to regain it back then you can do that by un-rooting your OnePlus 3.

Ensure that you have charged your OnePlus 3 at least up to 60% so as to minimize the risk of interruption during the flashing process.

It is recommended that you take a backup of your entire phone data and settings in case something goes wrong.

(Optional) Backup EFS folder present in your phones system directory. This folder contains all your phones specific information such as the IMEI, wireless devices MAC addresses, product code, and much more. So a backup of this folder is essential. There is always a risk that this EFS folder might get corrupted. If so happened, your device will be completely useless & will no longer be recognized by your carrier. Refer our article to backup and restore EFS/IMEI data:

Make sure that you’ve enabled the USB debugging mode on your phone. If not, then do so by following the path Menu->Settings->Developer options ->USB debugging. If you don’t see Developer option then go to Settings->About Phone and tap 7 times on the Build number. This will make the Developer option appear in the Settings menu.

Step 10: In the adb folder, hold Shift button of your keyboard. By holding shift button, right click on empty space. From the list, choose Open command window here option. This will launch the command window as given below:

Step 11: In the command window, type the following commands and hit enter:

adb devices

As soon as you press enter key, you’ll see a message saying ‘List of devices attached’ along with random numbers. This will confirm that your OnePlus 3 has successfully connected to your computer.

Note: If such thing doesn’t happen then re-install the USB drivers. If the problem still persists then change the USB cable or USB port.

Step 12: Now type the next command and press enter:

adb reboot bootloader

This will restart your OnePlus 3 into bootloader mode as shown below:

Step 13: Then type the fastboot command and press enter:

fastboot devices

This command will again confirm the successful connection with some random numbers.

Step 14: Now its time to flash the TWRP custom recovery. So type the following command and hit enter key:

fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

As soon as you hit enter key, the TWRP custom recovery flashing process will begin.

Step 15: Now disconnect the phone by manually unplugging the USB cable from PC. Then press and hold Volume down + Power button until your device enters the recovery mode.

Step 16: In TWRP recovery, you’ll see the following screen:

Just tick the ‘Never show this screen’ message and swipe to allow modifications.

Step 17: Now once you land into main screen of TWRP recovery, select Reboot option. Then select System option to restart your OnePlus 3 device.

Voila! You’ve successfully rooted and flashed Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) on your OnePlus 3 smartphone. You can now change & view the system settings, do nandroid backup, flash custom ROMs, wipe data/cache and do much more. Finally if you come across any difficulty while going through the process, then do let me know through the comments. Till then Enjoy! 😛